Old Friends!

Before I make you all sit through a long and boring blog you should really click on this link and watch this video - Beth sent it to me and everytime I think about it I start weeping. Just goes to show how far the love of a parent can take you! http://www.godtube.com/view_video.php?

Miss Annie has decided that she wants to use utensils - she looks like she doesn't quite know what to do with a fork yet!!

Most of my family and some of my friends remember my friend Amy - back when I was a single working mom Amy took care of Peter for me while I worked. He and her daughter Kelly became like siblings as they spent their days together for 18 months until Amy and her husband Paul and Kelly moved to Arizona. It was heartbreaking for me but they have made a wonderful life there. I miss Amy terribly - especially when I get to see her again and remember the special bond that she has with Peter. We got a chance to get together at Amy's friend Lisa's house and have lunch and swim and just catch up. It was a beautiful day and the kids were terrific. I cried for 15 minutes on the way home knowing that we won't see Amy and Kelly for another 8-10 months. AMy invited us to Arizona - it's only 120 degrees there right now!
Lauren and Kelly - Kelly has gotten so big - she's not a little girl anymore!
The kids in the pool swimming - they literally spent 4 hours non-stop swimming!
At one point Pete got hurt feelings about something and skipped me and went straight for Amy's arms! She wiped his tears and got him back in the pool in 2 minutes flat!
Lisa's son Trevor is 14 and Peter could not get enough of him!
My boy jumping off of his tube - he loved the pool!
Poor Molly was the only younger kid and on top of it the only one who couldn't go into the deep end - I spent much of the day sitting on the edge of the pool hanging with her. On top of that she gets a horrible hive-like rash everytime she goes into chlorinated water. I told her I felt bad that she didn't have anyone to play with in the shallow end and her response was "It's okay, Mama, I like swimming and talking to you better." That's my girl!

Annie Bananie ready for a swim!
My girl in her Ariel bathing suit chatting with Mommy!
Annie splashing in the pool - she looks so cute in a bathing suit!
Molly playing with her sister in the pool - everytime Molly splashed her she would let out this crazy shriek - very cute!
Peter jumping off the diving board into a tube - Trevor taught him that one and with the exception of this picture I pretty much looked the other way!

Molly girl jumping into the pool - look at the smile on her face!
Annie splashing in the pool - she had a blast and I had to stop myself from taking 30 pictures of her pudgy little face!
Amy's husband Paul and Peter on the tube together!
Kelly - what a beauty!

Peter diving off of Paul's shoulders!
Kelly on the tube!
Ann loved the fence around the pool and Molly actually took this picture of her - the kids thought it was hysterical that she was in "jail".
Amy and Paul hanging with my sleeping baby girl!

Peter and Molly with Amy and also with all of the kids!
Justin, Pete and Kelly!

Peter and Kelly - still friends! This is Peter with Trevor - Trevor taught Pete how to play lacrosse and now he wants to play that instead of soccor in the fall. Thanks, Trev!

We had a beautiful day which ended in my getting us lost for an hour and a half in a huge thunder and lightening storm which culminated in tornado warnings for the area we were driving in. I did what I always do when I'm nervous in the car- put on my Celebrations of Life CD and go to "Shine, Jesus, Shine". A prayer I don't have to concentrate on - I always choose Shine, Jesus, Shine because Molly belts it out and it calms me! She did not disappoint and it was over before we knew it.

Happy 4th of July - GNM - ILY!

Blog Update

I wanted to write a quick update for all of my loyal blog readers - you three know exactly who you are!

We are having some major internet issues - surprisingly our first issues since we switched to AT&T but it still prevents me from blogging. The problem should be resolved just in time for the weekend and the 100 4th of July pictures I will inevitably have collected by then.

I hope everyone has a fun 4th of July - stay safe and get ready for an exhausting blog entry when the holiday is over!

My baby boy is growing and growing up!

Anyone who has been to Newport with the Harding/Kelly clan during the month of July knows something about overcrowding - there are usually 2 people for every bed and chair in the place. Today I took Peter to see Dr. Luxemburg and Dr. Lux mentioned that tomorrow is July 1st. Peter immediately yelled "Yes, Newport is in 18 days." So he told Dr. Luxemburg that he could come to Newport with us but Uncle Pat sleeps late on the couch so he would have to sleep on the porch with Auntie Karla. To explain a little Karla had mentioned that she was calling the porch to sleep on as a joke because we are going to be so crowded and apparently if Dr. Lux takes Peter up on his offer to join us he will be out there with Auntie Karla.

Peter is doing great - he grew an inch in three months so apparently my hope that his school clothes will fit in the fall is just a dream. He is 57 inches and he weighs 82 pounds. He lost another few pounds so we are going to be watching that a little bit more carefully along with his sugars. He has a healthy appetite and eats surprsingly healthy so I'm not all that worried but pediatricians never like to see a consistent weight loss in kids Pete's age. Annie still has her ear infections so we are switching to ANOTHER antibiotic - this is our third! Then we will start to talk about more serious resolutions. Mama's not thinking about that yet!

Bob and Patrick held their end of the season pizza party for baseball tonight. We didn't realize that siblings were not invited so we all showed up - men never seem to get all the info to their wives. Lucky for me I was not the only one who did not get the info so there were lots of other moms and siblings but I was mortified at first! Either way we had a nice time and the kids really enjoyed it!

Molly and her Daddy bonding over the pizza!
Peter, Tyler and their baseball friends!
Annie Bananie enjoying her pizza crust - those eyes get me everytime!
Tyler and his baseball friends having fun!
Peter and some of his baseball buddies!
Peter getting his trophy from his two best coaches!

Tyler Patrick getting his trophy!
The coaches and their players!
Pete and his trophy! He was so excited!
The cousins and their trophies!

The boys were so cute! I know they need their space at times but it is so nice to go to things like that and get to enjoy my son and my nephew. What great kids we have!

Small pregnancy update (so as not to forget our littlest one) - Caroline has shifted positions and is now head down and feet up and so when she kicks it is right up against my lungs - I was feeling this shortness of breath and getting a bit nervous so they did a quick ultrasound of my kidneys to check for fluid and instead it was my baby girls first act of rebellion. On the ultrasound they could see her push off of the bottom of my uterus with her hands and hurl herself toward my diaphram and give me a good whack. All day I kept replaying that imagine in my head and smiling - how is it possible to love something - sorry, someone - so incredibly much that you have never met or seen! My mom is going to make fun of me for that bit of mushiness!

GNM - ILY!

Our big night out and KK's big move!

Before you do anything click on the link to the left and check out my cousins Todd and Michelle's blog. They found out on Thursday that they are having a girl and the pictures are amazing. Apparently in California you get the royal treatment because it looks like a 3-d ultrasound - huge difference between my ultrasound pics and theirs - and, yes, I'm a little bit jealous but it was great to see my new little niece with such clarity - what a miracle!

Thanks to Meghan, Bob and I got to go out on Saturday night. It was WONDERFUL! Meg met us at church and then shuffled the kids off to meet Tim at Friendlies for dinner. After they ate they all came home and got in pajamas and then watched a movie. When we (Yes, we're losers!) got home at 9:45 the kids were sleeping soundly and woke up very happy this morning. It was so nice to be out talking and having fun - we didn't worry about the kids at all and Meghan made it seem as though we were doing her a favor by letting her babysit.

We don't get dressed up and go out often so Bob and I agreed that we needed to take a picture but we were alone so we had to do a self portrait! Not bad but we're both going to get our teeth whitened next week after seeing this picture! Check out Bob's beautiful blue eyes - it's no wonder that everyone says that Annie looks like him!

So a little question for all of you - how OLD do Bob and I look in this picture???? We were hanging out with Tim and Meg when we got home and telling Tim stories about our wedding and the big blizzard on our wedding day. He turned to me in all seriousness and asked if that was the blizzard when Ella Grasso closed down the state. I was hard pressed to find a non black and white picture of Governor Grasso - this would give you a hint as to how far back in the history of CT you would have to go to find a reference to the 68th Governor closing down the state. She died in 1980! So for all of you who are wondering - NO - Ella Grasso did NOT close down the state due to a blizzard on our wedding day and the reason is because I was 9 when she died! Free babysitting outweighs harsh and cruel age jokes any day but I think Tim went a little over the top on this one!
Annie Bananie in her playpen for the 1st time. Most people don't think playpens are an appropriate parenting tool but I have used them with all of my kids. A safe place for Annie to play with her toys without risk of climbing on the stairs, getting one of the big kids toys or moving too fast for Mommy to catch her. She loves it, too. Peter and Molly are wonderful with her but the kid needs some space once in a while!
When Annie woke up from her nap Peter went in and got her out of her crib, placed her gently on the couch next to Molly and then covered them all with a blanket to watch a movie. I love watching them together - such sweet kids!
My girls - I know I'm their Mom but sometimes they just take my breath away!

KK made the big move from Boston to CT on Friday - at least her stuff did! She is still sleeping on an air matress in her empty apartment until Monday when she does her walkthrough and ties up all of her loose ends. This is her adorable moving crew leaving for Boston. And in case anyone ever wonders about my propensity for picture taking - look no further than Peter Harding - a 7 hour move was documented with 60 pictures! I Love my Dad!
Ready to go!

I wasn't there so I can't judge but it seems like KK had a pretty easy job!
Bob was told to move EVERYTHING!
The boys looking busy!
On the loading dock - not doing a whole lot of heavy lifting! Get moving boys!
More goofing around for the camera and an empty truck! Are these guys ever going to get moving?

Now this looks like an interesting elevator ride!
Hope everyone used their deoderant this morning!
Sweaty people hugging in the elevator - yuck!
Not sure whether this was the before picture or just some more slacking!
Get a little closer.....................

Who knew Kk had so much crap?

The moving crew, including a few of KK's students - I don't know all of their names but the boys were thankful for their help!
Very proud of the empty apartment!
No idea what my brother is doing here - clearly not working!
KK's life in a truck! This was a hard week for KK packing up her life but wait until she gets home and experiences hugs, kisses, love and attention from all of her favorite peeps in a moment's notice. And I'm not talking about the kids!

No idea what these pictures were of but they must have some purpose!
Wow - can you believe how hard these guys are working?
Uncle Pete's parting words for his godchild. When I was a kid and struggling with something or having trouble falling asleep my Dad's advice was always to "say a rosary". I'm hoping his parting words to KK were better than that!
From the look on her face - my Dad's advice has probably not inproved much!
Nothing like a brother's love to get you through the hard times!

KK saying goodbye outside of her apartment and the CT crew unloading the truck into Riverview!


Is it me or did Karen have the cutest moving crews around?? According to my dad everyone worked their little tails off without complaint - even Brendan! This is why we all love Scott so much - he is there for the parties and the fun and he is ALWAYS there when there is work to be done and a family member to be supported.

I'll end with Peter's description of each member of our family the other night at the dinner table.

Molly is the whiney dancy one, Peter is the smart one, Annie is the baby drooly one, Daddy is the funny one and Mommy is the pregnant yelly one! How the heck did Bob get to the be the funny one and I get to be the yelly one?

Thanks, Dad, for all the great pictures!

GNM - ILY!